Road to Benevolence
by SirKillbane
Summary: From his separation from his brother in Helgen, to the moment he discovered his gift that led him to Winterhold. Karrick's life was always challenging, but he learned as his life became more difficult when Alduin the World Eater appeared, that his true destiny was about to unfold. Follow Karrick as he tells his tale on how he became a Paladin. Prelude to Love by Blood
1. Helgen

**It's been a long time since I got to sit down and type. I wanted to thank all my supporters and fans who I gathered from my story "Love by Blood." After all this time away, I'm finally writing again. Since my character Karrick drew in such a positive crowd, I wanted to reach back and tell the story about how he came to be. Some things in this story will be of my own making, but I promise to stay as close to the Elder Scrolls lore as possible. I want to thank you all for your kind words and hope to see them again in this upcoming tale. Hope you enjoy.**

My name is Karrick. I am a Paladin who serves Tamriel with honor and benevolence. I am not afraid to lead my companions into battle with fierocity and self sacrifice. But I was not always like this. There was once a time that I did not look kindly on the Divines and all they stood for. Too many times did the temptation of the Daedric lords taunt away at my soul. I did not always strive to enjoy the company of friends and loved ones... Perhaps it is best to take you back five years ago, in the little solidified village of Helgen.

I was working in a little blacksmith's shop alongside my brother, Jorvin, who was only a mere three years younger than I. I was only twenty-four at that time. We lost our parents before we were old enough to remember them. We have no memory of who watched over us the first few years of our lives as orphans, but we do remember all the times we were traded among villages for labor. We would work our hands to the bone every day for little to no food until our current "guardian" lost use of us, then would trade us to the next lot looking for cheap workers.

We stuck with each other no matter how difficult things became. And each time a new buyer would try to separate us, they would quickly realize we were more useful together. When we became of age, the years of hard labor had paid off. We both grew to be larger than any normal nord of the current age. So people tended to fear us if we grew angry. This helped us land a job with the blacksmith, Bormir, in Helgen. We made weapons and armor for the Imperial soldiers who guarded the border.

The coin in this busy intersection of Skyrim was just good enough to keep our rooms at the Inn paid for and food in our bellies. Of course, not too many of our kinsmen looked kindly towards us because we were without a clan, or family as simply put. We were and always will be just the dumb orphan boys we grew up to be. Because of this, no women wanted to wed, let alone bear any sons or daughters of those they didn't respect. Which this suited fine for us. We were used to being alone.

Business had been on the rise here of late ever since the war started between the Empire and Jarl Ulfric's Stormcloak Rebellion. When the High King was murdered by Ulfric, word got around fast and the Empire began to bolster it's ranks here in Skyrim to help quell the fighting. But the numbers of Ulfric's followers had grown larger than they expected. My brother and I, however, never cared much for politics. We just did our jobs and never cared for what went on around us. However, on this particular morning, our lives would be changed forever.

It was the 17th of Last Seed. My brother and I were doing our usual sharpening and repairs of the Imperial wears when we both noticed something was wrong. There were several Thalmor roaming around the village. Almost as though they were expecting something. Strangely enough, the Thalmor leader of Skyrim, Elenwyn, was present among them. This didn't settle well with most of the residence here. But we all kept to ourselves.

We continued to finish our orders throughout the morning, when we noticed the front gates opened and several carriages came through. They were packed full of men and women all wearing the same uniforms. They were Stormcloak rebels. But why were they brought here?

"General Tullius, sir. The headsman is waiting," we heard an Imperial soldier shout.

A headsman? General Tullius? This was turning out to be more than a normal day. This was going to turn into an execution sight. But why?

Just I had asked myself this question, my brother grabbed my attention by pointing at the last carriage to come through the gates. Sitting on the very back was Ulfric Stormcloak. The leader of the rebellion. But it didn't make any sense. Why was the Imperials stopping in Helgen for the executions? We were all told that if Ulfric was captured, he would be brought to Cyrodiil, the Imperial City and home to the Emperor.

Most of the village, including my brother and I, all watched from a distance as they unloaded the men and women from the carts and began calling their names to form a line to the headsman's block.

We could hear General Tullius confront Ulfric before the executions began. But as we waited to see this gruesome scene take place, we heard a load roar in the distance that seemed to come from over the mountain that overlooked Helgen.

"What was that?" My brother asked in confusion. I just shook my head and shrugged my shoulders.

Just then, we could hear the priestess begin her last rites for the prisoners.

"As we commend your souls to Aetherius, blessing of the Eight Divines upon..."

Just then, one of the prisoners stepped forward and interrupted her.

"For the love of Talos, shut up, and let's get this over with."

He then proceeded to be placed on the block and prepped for his execution.

"Come on. I haven't got all morning," he continued to shout.

As the headsman raised his ax, the prisoner let out his final words.

"My ancestors are smiling on me this day Imperials. Can you say the same?"

Then the ax came down and brought the man's life to an end.

My brother shuttered with disgust, but managed to keep his composure.

"He took his death with real courage," Jorvin said.  
>"Indeed he did," I responded as I watched as the next prisoner began to walk up for his turn.<p>

Just then, we heard another roar from the mountain. This time, it seemed to be closer.

"What is that?" My brother asked again. "It doesn't sound like any creature I've ever heard in my life. It sounds huge."

I looked towards the mountain, knowing whatever it was, was coming from there.

Just as the next prisoner's head was placed to the block, I heard another roar as a large black winged figure flew over the mountain and down towards the village. It landed on the tower in the center of the village, directly in front of the prisoners. "Dragon!" I heard a villager shout. Then, without warning, the creature shot a powerful blast from it's mouth as the sky turned red and fire began to rain down on Helgen.

Jorvin and I ran to the workbench to grab some supplies as fast as we could, equipping ourselves with weapons in case we needed them. He grabbed a couple iron swords, while I grabbed an iron mace. We both started to run for the gates in hopes that we could escape the carnage with our lives. But just before we reached them, a fireball from the sky crashed on the ground between us, knocking us away from each other. It made me black out for a few seconds from the impact. But when I came to, I could not see Jorvin.

As I began to search around for him, all I could see was Imperial soldiers scrambling about to make their way out of the village. Just then, one of the soldiers I saw before spotted me and came to check on me.

"Are you hurt?" he asked as he helped me to my feet.  
>"I think I'm alright," I replied. "But I don't see my brother."<p>

The Imperial looked around a bit but didn't seem to be worried about that.

"I'm sure he's fine," he replied. "But we can't stick around here. We have to get moving."

I finished gathering myself and followed the soldier towards the keep. It seemed to be the only place that wasn't blocked by debris or fire.

As we made our way, I continued to look for Jorvin, but couldn't see him anywhere. My worst fear was that he had been pinned under the debris and was burning to death. I didn't want to leave him, but I didn't have a choice. Just before we reached the keep, one of the Stormcloak rebels cut us off.

"Ralof," the soldier shouted. "You damned traitor, out of my way!"  
>The fair haired rebel quickly shouted back at him. "We're escaping, Hadvar. You're not stopping us this time."<p>

The two men looked at each other with great hatred in their eyes.

"Fine," this Hadvar replied. "I hope that dragon takes you all to Soverngarde."

The rebel ran past us as we headed for the barracks entrance to the keep.


	2. A Glimpse of Fate

Once we reached the inside of the keep, Hadvar took one last look out to see if anyone else would be joining us inside. I had hoped that my brother, Jorvin, would have made it. But once he shut the door, I realized it was just us.

"I need to get back out there," I demanded with my mace clenched tightly in my hand.

Hadvar looked at me with worry as he made his way across the barracks that we had entered.

"Are you mad?" he asked. "You go out there now, you'll more than likely become another scorched corpse."

I clenched my teeth in hatred.

"It's a risk I'm willing to take. My brother is out there," I shouted.

Hadvar searched through a nearby chest and pulled out some cloth to wrap the burns on his hands.

"A lot of brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters are out there right now," Hadvar said as his faced clenched in pain as he tightened the cloth. "But you need to have faith that he made it out somehow. You'll just get yourself killed running out there blindly."

I quickly grew angry and smashed the nearest table with the force of my iron mace. Quickly pacing the room, I turned to question the next course of action from this Imperial coward.

"Now what?" I asked.

Hadvar quickly headed towards a doorway blocked by a rising gate. Pulling the chain next to it, he turned to me as the gate begun to rise.

"First, we need to find a way out of here. There should be an exit somewhere towards the back of this place. After that, we can part ways so you can search for your brother."

As he stepped forward to make his way through the door, I nodded my head in agreement and followed.

As we made our way through the keep, we came across several Stormcloak rebels who took me as much as an enemy as my Imperial companion. Even though I had no quarrel with them, I had no choice but to fight my way through to get out of this place alive. Finally, we reached what appeared to be a torture chamber, and two other Imperial soldiers fighting two Stormcloaks. Hadvar charged in to save them, and I followed close behind. When we managed to defeat them, the eldest of the bunch spoke up.

"You fellows happened along just in time, these boys seemed a little upset about how I've been treating their comrades," The elder man seemed to chuckle as he spoke.

Trying to catch his breath, Hadvar quickly responded, "Don't you even know what's going on? A dragon is attacking Helgen."

Both the old man and his assistant shot a look of surprise at Hadvar.

"A dragon?" The old man laughed back. "Please. Don't make up such nonsense."

He seemed to pause for a moment before turning his attention towards the distant hallway across the chamber.

"Although come to think of it," he continued. "I did hear some strange noises coming from over there."

Hadvar began grabbing a few items of worth and advised us to do the same.

"We need to get out of Helgen," he said in a quickened pace towards the hall.

I noticed a decent iron shield sitting against the wall on the floor. I picked it up and proceeded to use it. Just then, I heard the old man speak in a hissy tone.

"You have no authority over me, boy."

Hadvar quickly changed his tone right back at the old man.

"Didn't you hear me? A dragon is attacking Helgen."

The old man continued to walk away and ignore Hadvar's words. I quickly turned to the assistant who kept to himself through the entire conversation.

"What about you?" I asked. "Are you as big a fool as this old man?"

The assistant quickly grabbed his mace and walked towards Hadvar.

"Forget the old man," he responded. "I'll come with you."

As we made our way down the hallway, we could hear the old man shout one last comment behind us.

"There's no way out that way, you know."

It wasn't long before we reached a large room filled with Stormcloaks who all seemed to be arguing with each other on how to escape. Hadvar quickly advised that we use that to take them by surprise to fight out way out. The three of us charged the room and seemed to scare all the men inside as we continued to shout and cut them down one by one.

When the fighting seemed to stop, Hadvar and myself seemed to find ourselves at a doorway that seemed to lead out of the keep. But, before we could make our way out, we heard the assistant collapse behind us. When we turned to him, he had three arrows sticking out of his chest.

"This blasted armor isn't worth a damn thing." He coughed up as he lay there breathing hard.

Hadvar quickly fell to the floor at his side. The man reached up and grabbed Hadvar's hand.

"I don't regret a thing," he continued. "Kill those Stormcloak bastards for me."

Hadvar nodded in agreement and held tightly to his hand as he took in his last breath.

"I'll see you again one day, brother." Hadvar said as he laid the man's mace back into his hand as a sign of respect.

This had me more worried about my brother. Where was Jorvin? And did he make it out of Helgen alive? As these thoughts ran through my mind, Hadvar pushed me to continue.

After we passed through the doorway and lowered the small drawbridge, we found ourselves in a cave.

"In all the years I've lived in Helgen," I spoke up. "I've never known this was here."

Hadvar looked around to find his way.

"They must have found it and gained access in case they needed it as an escape route."

We continued our way through the cave and came into a small room that was covered in webbing. Another thing that caught my eye was the large number of large egg sacks that covered the room.

"It's a nest," I said quietly. "We need to be careful."

Hadvar nodded in agreement and proceeded to try and sneak through the nest without alerting whatever large spiders lived here. But little did we know, they already knew we were there.

Without warning, several of them dropped in from the roof. They begun to attack us by jumping at us with great force. Hadvar and I did everything we could to avoid their attacks while doing what we could to fight back.

"Behind you!" Hadvar shouted in my direction as he thrust his sword into one of the spiders.

As I turned around to confront what was behind me, one of the spiders got the jump on me and bit me. I could quickly feel the venom rush through my body. It burned with the most fiercest pain I'd ever felt.

I managed to shake the beast off and kill it. We finished off the remaining few and made our way towards the exit. But the venom was more powerful and spreading faster than I'd expected.

"I don't..." I stuttered weakly. "I don't think I'm gonna make it."

Just then, I collapsed to the ground. My breathing became harder as my vision started to fade away. I could hear Hadvar shouting at me to keep me from passing out, but darkness eventually claimed me.

-)

"Karrick," I heard my named called in the darkness. But I lay there silent.

"Karrick," it called again.

This time it was a little more clear. It was a female voice. Just then, I could see a dim light begin to shine in the distance.

"Karrick, are you going to give up that easily?"

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Who are you? And how do you know my name?"

The light seemed to get brighter with each passing second.

"What?" The voiced asked in return. "You mean to say that a mother can't know her own child?"

I felt a bit of shock when I heard this. My mother? It couldn't be. My parents both died before I could remember them.

"Karrick, you must get up." The woman continued. "Your destiny does not end here. You will accomplish great things. Things that no normal mortal man could ever hope to."

At that moment, the light had a slim figure standing in front of it. It appeared to be a woman, but not a woman that I could recognize. The form was not of a normal nord woman. This woman was not my mother. It just couldn't be.

"Karrick, your people need you. You can't die here," she said.  
>"They don't need me." I spat back. "And I don't need them. Why should I care what happens to anyone but my brother?"<p>

The figured seemed to slump in disagreement.

"I know the pain you went through for so many years, and I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you," she replied. "But your brother is alive and has currently chosen his own path. And you must go yours."

"NO!" I shouted at the woman. "I live my own life and nothing else matters but the safety of my brother. I will find him."

She reached out towards me and I could feel a slight warmth come from her.

"My son. In time, you will learn the truth. But first, you must seek out the land to which snow is never ending. There you will find where magic is a symbol of the people."

This riddle made no sense to me. Why would I care about magic? I had no skills in such rabble. As I began to ponder this, the woman and the light began to fade.

"Find the truth, my son. Find your destiny," she said as the light finally faded back into darkness.

I laid there feeling the pain coursing through my body, but it felt lifted. As I opened my eyes, I could see that I was no longer in the cave, but in a house. To my right was Hadvar sitting in a chair watching over me.

"Oh good," he said. "You're finally awake. I thought I'd lost you for sure."


	3. Riverwood

As I sat up to gather myself, Hadvar stood up to give me a hand.

"Not so fast," he said as he pulled me up. "We don't know, just yet, how well the antidote worked."

I finished standing on my feet and could still feel a slight pain running through me. I continued to brace myself on Hadvar as I reclaimed my strength to walk.

"Thank you," I said to him. "If it weren't for you, I would be dead."  
>"Don't just thank me," he replied with a chuckle. "Delphine over at the Inn made you the medicine."<p>

Hadvar helped me up the stairs to the main room of the house we were in. There, we saw a little girl speaking with a woman. Both of them had brown hair and shared similar facial features. It was obvious to me that the little one was the woman's daughter.

"Ah, good. You're finally awake," said the woman. "How are you feeling?"  
>"Much better," I replied.<br>"Momma, should I go get Papa?" asked the small girl.  
>"Yes, perhaps you should."<p>

The little girl quickly ran out the door. As Hadvar sat me down in a chair at their dinner table, I quickly noticed the smell of a very well cooked venison over the fire. My stomach began to growl as the feeling of hunger took over my body.

"Oh! I'm so sorry," the woman quickly said as she jumped to her feet. "You must be starving, having not eaten in a few days."

She quickly cut a big chunk off the venison and placed it on a plate in front of me.

"Thank you, so much, Miss," I said as I quickly shoved the food into my mouth.  
>"Please, call me Sigrid," she quickly replied. "I'm just glad you're better. We've been so worried about you. My daughter, Dorthe, took turns with Hadvar looking over you while we waited to see if you'd survive your attack."<p>

I finished eating the venison just as Sigrid's husband walked in with Dorthe close behind.

"Ah, my friend, I'm glad you are well," the big husky nord said as he sat down. "We were worried you wouldn't make it."  
>"I'm still a little shaky," I replied. "But I'm much better, thanks to you people."<p>

As we sat there, the three of them explained everything, from Hadvar carrying me out of the cave, then hauling me all the way to the small town of Riverwood, which we currently were staying. The man of the house was named Alvor who, in fact, was also the town's blacksmith. As we continued our conversation, I remembered that my brother was still missing.

"By the way," I quickly interrupted. "Did anyone else come through? Or did you see anyone along the way here?"  
>"Sadly, no," Hadvar replied. "I was hoping to, at least, see General Tullius and regroup with him on the way to Solitude and find out about this dragon."<p>

I quickly stood up to gather my things. I had to find Jorvin. I feared I would only find his body, if anything. But as I prepared to leave, everyone in the house urged me to stay.

"You can't leave yet," Alvor insisted. "We don't know how well you're healed."  
>"I'm fine," I replied with a sharp tone. "I have to find my brother."<br>"Please, friend," Hadvar spoke up. "Just stay here another day or two, just to make sure. After that, you can go look for him."

As much as I wanted to push my way through them, I could feel that my strength still wasn't fully recovered. I didn't want to admit it, but they were right. I needed to wait, my brother needed to wait just a little while longer.

"Very well," I said. "I'll stay long enough for my health to return. But then, I must search."

Everyone seemed relieved at this news. During the nights I stayed, I continued to sleep in the bed they had made for me downstairs. Hadvar decided to head to Solitude the next day. When I could manage to stand up long enough to be more active, I helped Alvor at his smithy. When he didn't have work for me, I chopped wood for Hod over at the sawmill. One night, I even joined Alvor over at the Inn for a few bottles of mead. That night, I finally got to meet the last person who helped save my life.

Her name was Delphine. She was a strapping, fair-haired nord woman who wasn't afraid to show her tough side. Her assistant, Orgnar, would always get a harsh 'talking to' if he didn't hear her the first time she'd speak. But, before the night was over, we finally got to speak face to face.

"Well, I'm glad to see my antidote worked," she said with a confident tone. "Glad to see someone gets something right around here."  
>"Yes," I replied. "Well, I'm glad too. I wanted to thank you for saving my life, even though you didn't have to."<br>She laughed. "Well, I couldn't just let you die. No one wanted to bury you."

We both chuckled the night away as we told each other stories about who we were and where we came from. However, when Delphine spoke of herself, I could sense she wasn't telling me the complete truth. She seemed a bit uneasy when she would speak of certain things. But, it wasn't my place to pry. When everyone was finished, I joined Alvor back to the house to call it a night. Knowing, the next day, I would finally be able to return to my search for Jorvin.

When I awoke the next morning, Alvor had already went outside to start working, Sigrid went across the way to the Riverwood Trader to buy more vegetables, and Dorthe went out to play with Hod and Gerdur's son.  
>After I finished gathering my things, I walked outside to bid farewell to Alvor.<p>

"Thank you again for all your help," I said as I shook his hand.  
>"Don't mention it," he replied. "In fact, there is something you can do for me, well, for all of us."<br>I agreed to listen to Alvor's request.  
>"Whiterun is the closest hold from here. They overlook our village. If you're going to look for your brother, I would start there. But, while you're there, could you please ask the Jarl for assistance? Riverwood is defenseless. Especially against a <em>dragon<em>. If you'll do this for us, we'll be in your debt."

I agreed to speak to the Jarl once I reached Whiterun. It was the least I could do for them since they saved my life.  
>I made my way out of Riverwood, saying my farewells to anyone I saw on my way through. After crossing the stone bridge on the edge of town, I made my way along the road beside the river. I walked for a good hour when I noticed that the wilderness was too quiet. I could hear no birds, or any wildlife for that matter. But as I noticed this, I could hear several footsteps around me.<p>

"Hey, you," a voice came from the trees.


	4. Unwilling Help

I was startled a bit when several men appeared from behind the trees. They were all wearing light mail armor covered in blue cloth. Once I got a better look at them, I realized they were wearing the same uniforms I saw in Helgen that the Stormcloak rebels were wearing.

As they continued to approach me, I remembered I was dumb enough to not bring a weapon with me. Unfortunately, these men were armed to the teeth, and they didn't look to be in a talking mood.

"What's a nord, like you, doing wandering these roads alone?" one of them asked.  
>"It appears we have someone who's lost," another said.<p>

There were a total of five of them that surrounded me while taunting away about why I was there.

"Please," I began. "I don't want any trouble. I'm just on my way to Whiterun."  
>"You hear <em>that<em>, lads?" the first chuckled. "This milk drinker is looking for trouble."  
>"Come on, then." another shouted. "Let's see what you got."<p>

Just as I knew I was about to be attacked, I braced myself for a very uneven fight. But, before any of them could get a hit in, two of the men were cut down from behind. As the other three took notice, someone was already taking another of them out. It was Hadvar.

"I've got this," he shouted. "Get away."

I shoved past one of the men and got a good distance from them as I heard Hadvar continue to fight them behind me. What was he even doing here? I thought he went to Solitude a few days before? After the fighting was finished, Hadvar came walking towards me with a spare sword in hand.

"I've been tracking these guys for the past couple days," he said. "They killed a couple men when I came across them. But I couldn't strike them head on without taking them by surprise. Good thing you came by when you did. I thought I'd never get the chance."

Hadvar handed me the sword and I quickly strapped it to my side.

"That's twice now that you've saved my life," I said. "I really owe you."  
>"Don't mention it," he replied. "You helped me a lot back in Helgen. I probably wouldn't be here either without your skill at my side back there."<p>

We started walking towards Whiterun and continued discussing the past few days on the way.

"You know," Hadvar continued. "If you're up to it, we could really use another man like you in the legion."  
>I chuckled a bit. "Me? I'm just a lowly blacksmith. What good would I be?"<br>"But you are so much more than that," he assured me. "I can tell. There is something about you that says you're going to reach great heights one day. And I'm sure the empire would help you reach those heights."  
>I continued to laugh at him. "Thanks, but I'll have to hold on that for now. I must find my brother first and find us a new home."<br>"Alright, I won't pressure you. Just remember what I said."

After a short walk later, we finally reached Whiterun. It was an impressive fortress built on a massive hill. Large stone walls surrounded the entire town. And on the very top sat the largest building of them all. That had to be where the Jarl lived. And hopefully, this town was where my brother was. I quickened my pace to the front gates. As we approached, Hadvar stopped at the stables to catch a wagon to Solitude.

"Well," he started. "This is where we part ways, my friend."  
>"Thank you, again, Hadvar." I replied as he climbed in the back.<br>"Ah, don't mention it. I'm sure you'd do the same in my shoes. Perhaps I will see you again soon."

We finished our farewells and I watched as they left towards Solitude.

As I was about to head towards the front gates, I notice a ruckus across the way at one of the farmhouses. Three people were, what seemed to be, battling a giant. Anxious to see, I quickly made my way over. Surely enough, as I got closer, I could see two women and one very large man dodging in and out to strike at this giant. One of the women were standing a short distance away firing arrows at it. During this, the other two attacked with swords.

As I continued to stand and watch, the woman with the bow caught notice of me and proceeded to yell.

"You there! Either help or get out of here."  
>"Aela, look out," the large man yelled.<p>

The giant had pushed the large man and the other woman out of his way and was charging for Aela. She quickly tried to draw another arrow but the giant had closed the gap between them too quickly. Realizing this, I charged towards the giant as Aela continued to dodge out of his way. I drew my blade and rolled under the giant and sliced his legs. The pain made it fall to it's hands and knees. At this point, I took the advantage to jump on it's back, climb to it's head, and slice it's throat. After the beast fell, the three approached me.

"Not bad," Aela said. "You started as a distraction, but you have skill when it comes to it. You could be a decent shield-brother."  
>"Shield what?" I asked.<br>"An outsider, aye?" she replied. "Ever hear of the Companions? We're an order of warriors that show up to deal with problems, if the coin is good enough. Maybe you'd be interested in joining?"  
>"Thanks," I laughed. "But I have personal matters I must deal with first."<br>"Very well. If you should change your mind, come to Jorrvaskr and speak to Kodlak Whitemane. He has a good sense for people. He can look at a person, and tell your worth."

The three began walking towards Whiterun hold and I followed close behind. However, when we reached the gates, the guards let the companions in, but blocked _my_ path.

"Hold there," one guard ordered. "City is closed with the dragons about. Official business only."  
>"But I have a request from Riverwood," I insisted. "They need help in case of a dragon attack."<br>"Riverwood is in danger too?" the other guard asked. "You better go see the Jarl straight away."

They both stepped aside and let me in. Once I entered, I couldn't believe my sight. The city was huge. Several stores lined the road straight ahead, and houses lined the hillside. The city's Inn was on the far side of the street. In the center of town, there was a large white tree, but it was not bloomed. A temple resided beside it, and a statue of Talos stood opposite.

Once I made my way through, I reached the top of the city at the largest building. One of the guards told me it was called Dragonsreach. Old stories say that it was built as a prison for a dragon in ancient times. And that it's skull decorates the hall above the throne. As I made my way in to see the Jarl, I was quickly stopped by a red headed dark elf with her blade drawn.

"What is the meaning of this?" she asked. "Jarl Balgruuf is not recieving visitors."  
>"I come with a message from Riverwood," I replied. "It's about the dragons."<br>"Well then," she quickly acknoledged as she sheathed her sword. "That would explain why the guard let you in. You need to speak to the Jarl straight away."

I stepped up to the throne where a long, fair haired man sat in a large chair. His circlet, on his head, shined from the firelight, and his clothing showed that he was a man with power and wealth.

"So, you have information about the dragons?" the Jarl asked very quickly. "Were you, by chance, at Helgen?"  
>"Indeed, I was," I replied. "I saw the very large black dragon that leveled Helgen in the matter of minutes. Last I saw, it was heading this way. Riverwood calls for your aid."<br>The Jarl quickly grew into a panic, "By Ysmir, Irileth was right! Send a detachment to Riverwood at once."

The dark elf acknowledged the order and headed out. The Jarl and his adviser discussed the matter further as I stood there waiting to be on my way. But as I was hoping to be dismissed so I can continue my search for Jorvin, the Jarl finally turned his attention towards me.

"Ah, yes," he said. "Thank you, my friend. You've done Whiterun a real service, and I won't forget it. But, would you be willing to do me a very large favor? Something that would involve someone of your _particular_ talents, perhaps?"

I grew a little frustrated at this request, but I nodded in agreement.

"Come then," he continued. "Let us go and see Farengar, my court wizard. He's been looking into these matters of dragons."

We made our way towards the side of the hall into a small room that looked like a herbal shop. There was an alchemist table on the other side of the room, and an enchanting table beside that. Farengar stood there with his dark blueish robes and his noticeable curly facial hair sticking out of his hood.

The Jarl, Farengar, and I discussed his studies into the dragons. Eventually, Farengar came out with his request that I travel to a very ancient nord ruin to search for a stone tablet that may or may not be there. After the Jarl assured me that I would be rewarded handsomely enough to make the search worth it, I agreed. But I did have a request of my own. I asked that my brother be asked about to see if anyone had a lead on where he might be. After the Jarl accepted my terms, I made my way to the Inn for a decent night's rest.

As I sat at the Inn drinking a few bottles of mead, I met a large, muscular nord woman named Uthgerd. During our meeting, I had made the mistake of commenting about how she had a very strange name. At that point, she had challenged me to a fist fight. I wasn't too keen on hitting a woman, but after the first swing she took, I realized I didn't have a choice.

She attacked me like a fierce sabercat. Not giving me a chance to get a little distance from her. I continued to dodge her punches as I laid a few hits to her body, but her armor was blocking any damage from my fists.

"Come on," she shouted at me. "Stop being afraid and hit me. Or are you just another milk drinker?"

Finally, I had had enough. After the next punch I dodged, I gave her a good solid hit to the left cheek. After she hit the ground, I immediately felt bad. I went to help her up, but she sucker punched me with an uppercut, knocking me flat on my back. Afterwards, she jumped on me and the wrestling commenced.

Once we had settled a bit, she pinned my arms over my head and sat on my stomach.

"No man has ever hit me like that," she said with a bit of blood in the corner of her lip.

She quickly wiped it away with her hand and then kissed me before she let me up.

"You fight well," she continued. "But you need to be willing to fight whenever a challenge approaches. Do not let personal feelings or beliefs get in your way. You hesitate too much."  
>I gathered myself and replied, "Well, I'm not exactly thrilled to hit women."<br>"I'm not just a woman," she snapped. "I'm a nord. I get a thrill out of battle. And that is why I will be joining you to that ruin tomorrow."

I could see she was serious in her remark and I agreed to allow her to accompany me. We both retreated to our rooms to get some rest. For tomorrow, we were gonna need it.


	5. Bleak Falls Barrow

Uthgerd and I met up outside the Inn the next morning and prepared to head for the ruin. All I knew about this place was it was called Bleak Falls Barrow. It was the large ruin that overlooked Riverwood on the mountain side. It was going to take at least half the day to reach it, so we decided to head out early. However, when we made our way out, Uthgerd decided to stop at the blacksmith. It was owned and ran by an Imperial woman named Adrianne, and her husband Ulthberth.

"Why are we here?" I asked with confusion.  
>"To get you something to protect your sorry hide," Uthgerd replied with sarcasm.<p>

She had a point. All I was wearing was the old clothes I still had when I fled Helgen. So I made a deal with Adrianne that I would buy the materials from her and I would build the iron armor myself. Of course, this took up a good part of the morning. So once I had it made, I cut on time by not fitting it properly. I just threw it on and left.

As we made our way to the barrow, Uthgerd and I shared stories to pass the time. She told me about some of her favorite fights, and I told her about my life with my brother. Of course, I was thinking about him during this entire trip. I'd rather be looking for him.

We killed a few wolves that attacked along the way, but the real fight started when we came across an old watch tower that was currently occupied by several bandits. Just past it was the barrow, but we couldn't get past without being noticed. So, of course, Uthgerd suggested that we just charged in at them. I didn't even get a say in when she drew her great-sword and let out a large war cry. I quickly followed behind her to clear out the bandits.

Once we were finished with them, we checked some of the chests and drawers left around to see if anything of value was there. Found a few gold pieces and a couple bundles of leather to take with us. After we cleared the tower, we continued on our way up the mountain. Shortly around a large corner, there stood Bleak Falls Barrow.

It was a monstrous ruin that was built into the mountain itself. But the scene that bothered me was all the bandits standing guard outside. We quickly came up with a plan to take them out without drawing all their attention.

Once we finished outside, we made our way in. After we made it in, we immediately noticed a few dead bandits laying around the room. On the other side was a man and woman arguing with each other.

"And what if he doesn't come back?" The woman asked. "I want my share from that claw."  
>"Just shut up," the man replied. "Why don't you stand guard at the door? I'll watch for the elf to come back."<p>

The woman walked our way, so Uthgerd and I hid behind the pillars as she walked by. Uthgerd took her out from behind but made enough noise to catch the man's attention.

"What's you're problem?" He asked.

He began walking towards us. After he noticed the woman didn't respond, he drew his blade and started looking around.

"Who's there?" He demanded.

I managed to go around the pillar I was hiding behind and came up behind the man and took him by surprise. After we finished there, we made our way into the ruin.

There wasn't much to worry about on the way through. Just mainly skeevers for the most part. When we reached a lower level of the ruin, we could hear a man calling for help.

"Is that you?" The man yelled out. "I know I ran off with the claw, but I need help."

We followed the voice to a room that seemed to be completely covered in webs. Right away, I knew what it was. More spiders. I didn't want another run in with more spiders already, but it looked like I had no choice. Plus, the man was trapped in the webbing, and we couldn't just leave him there.

As we slowly creeped our way to him, he noticed us and began to get excited. We tried to signal him to calm down, but it was too late. A large queen spider dropped in from the ceiling.

"No," the man shouted. "It's back again. Kill it, kill it!"

Uthgerd and I quickly split up to attack it from both sides. All the while, the dark elf trapped in the webbing was screaming bloody murder. I tried to focus on my attacks, but all I could think about was the bite. I could feel the pain again like it just happened. I wanted to run, but I had no choice. Luckily, Uthgerd got a good hit on it and I moved in for the kill.

Once the giant spider was killed, we moved to help the poor dark elf.

"Good," he started. "You killed it. Now cut me down before anymore show up."  
>"Hold on," Uthgerd insisted. "Are you with those bandits?"<br>"Bandits?" The man asked. "Why would you think I was with bandits?"

Uthgerd and I looked at each other with disbelief. Afterwords, the dark elf finally spat out his confession.

"Ok, ok, yes I'm with the bandits. But I have this amazing artifact. It's a golden dragon's claw. But it's more than that. It works as a key."  
>"A key?" I asked. "A key to what?"<br>"To this ruin," he replied. "The claw and the hall of stories, I know how they all fit together. Cut me down and I'll show you. You wouldn't believe the power the nords have hidden here."

Uthgerd and I thought to ourselves and eventually agreed to work with the elf. But after we cut him from the webbing, he quickly got to his feet and began running deeper into the ruins ahead of us.

"You fools," he shouted back at us. "Why would I want to share the treasure with anyone?"

After we realized we were tricked, Uthgerd began cursing the elf while chasing behind him and I followed behind her. After a chase that seemed never ending, we ran into a large room that appeared to be a crypt. But before we had time to realize where we were running, we heard what sounded like chains and metal clanking together. Then, out of nowhere, a spike door swung out with lightning speed and struck the elf, killing him instantly.

We collected the claw out of his belongings and proceeded to continue, but we were quickly interrupted by several monsters attacking us.

"Drougr," Uthgerd shouted.

We were quickly surrounded by many of the corpses coming to life and attacking us. We fought our way through what seemed like an endless battle through the rest of the ruins. When suddenly we reached a long hallway blocked by what appeared to be a strange door with symbols.

We inspected it and noticed that some of the symbols matched the symbols on the golden claw. Another hint was the claw shaped slot in the center of the door. We lined up the symbols the same way they were on the claw and gave it a try. We heard some movement inside the door just before it slowly lowered into the floor and opened the way.

We found a very large room, almost like a separate cave when we entered. But what caught my attention was the strange curved shaped wall on the other side. It had a dragon's head carved on the very top. As we approached it, I could heard what sounded like chanting in my head. Uthgerd didn't appear to hear anything as she continued to look for more drougr.

As I approached the wall, I could make out a single symbol that I've never seen before. But it seemed to speak to me. The longer I stared at it, the more I seemed to understand it. Once the image felt like it burned into my memory, we heard a large stone crash behind us. A very large drougr had risen from his coffin.

The monstrous drougr began to attack us, but he started out in a way I've never seen. He yelled something in my direction and I felt a force that threw me back against the wall. The impact knocked me nearly unconscious. As I tried to shake the feeling and get back on my feet, I noticed Uthgerd was in a heated battle with the monster.

However, shortly into the fight, the drougr got the upper hand and stabbed Uthgerd through the chest. Once she fell, it turned back towards me. I quickly gained my footing and charged. Dealing hits and blocking it's strikes, I did everything I could to defeat this enemy quickly.

Suddenly, I noticed the drougr look as though it was going to use it's voice attack on me again, so I took the short opportunity and shoved my blade through the bottom of it's jaw and into it's skull. The blue light from it's eyes faded and it fell to the floor.

I quickly ran to Uthgerd who was struggling to breath and tried to help her.

"Well," she coughed up. "I didn't see that coming."  
>"Don't talk," I said quickly. "I gotta see if I can fix this. Save your strength."<br>She shook her head, "It's ok. I screwed up. It was a hell of a fight."

I could tell she was ready to give up. A wound like this is not going to end well. But I wasn't going to give up.

"No," I yelled. "No one is dying because of me."

Just then, a quick flash of light sprang from my hand that I had placed over her wound. When the light faded, her wound had healed.

"What in the," I started to ask.  
>"My wound is gone." Uthgerd answered.<p>

I looked at my hands as we both raised to our feet. What was that light?

"Are you sure you're not some sort of mage or a priest?" she asked.  
>"No," I responded. "I don't know what that was."<p>

I stood there in shock as Uthgerd looked around. Inside the coffin appeared to be the stone tablet that Farengar was looking for. So we took it and made our way out to return to Whiterun. Once we got back, we turned in the tablet to Farengar and I quickly went to the Jarl for answers.

"Good work retrieving that stone," he said. "You've done us yet another great service. If you like, you can now purchase property within my hold."  
>"Thank you, Jarl," I responded. "But I have questions."<br>"Ah yes," he quickly interrupted. "I had some of my men ask about your brother, and they seem to have a lead. A man fitting your description was apparently seen getting on the wagon with a woman. The driver said he took them to Riften."

Finally, it seems my brother was alive. But, somehow, I had a more important task I needed to seek out.

"Thank you again, Jarl," I said. "But I have another question."  
>"Anything," he responded.<p>

I quickly thought back on my dream when I left Helgen. I remembered what the woman said to me, and I had to ask the Jarl.

"A place where snow is never ending, and magic is the symbol for the people."

Both the Jarl and his adviser looked at each other puzzled for a moment before finally turning their attention back towards me.

"Surely, you don't mean Winterhold?" The Jarl asked.  
>"Is there magic there?" I asked in response.<br>"Is there magic?" He chuckled. "Damn near most of the city was destroyed there because of it. It's the home of the College of Winterhold. A school for mages. But why would you want to go there?"

I shook my head at the Jarl. Even I didn't know. But it might be the place that could explain how I saved Uthgerd from certain death. We hadn't spoke of it to anyone since we got back. She returned to the Inn after thanking me for doing it. Although, I couldn't really bring myself to accept it, because it shouldn't have happened.

Finally, I bid my farewells to everyone in Dragonsreach and made my way to the carriage to get a ride to this Winterhold. I just pray that my brother can stay safe long enough for me to return once I'm done.


	6. Apprentice or Legend

It took a few days to reach Winterhold. Luckily we rarely ran into any trouble along the road.  
>Once we reached our destination, I quickly started to see what my vision had told me. This entire area was completely covered in snow, and it didn't seem to ever let up. I couldn't believe that people actually live here.<p>

I made my way across the small town and asked a guard about the college. He seemed to be disgusted with me for asking him. But, after what seemed to be a concerning subject, he finally pointed me in the right direction. It was hard to miss really, a giant stone wall spread across the edge of the town. I walked up the stairs and was greeted by an elf woman.

"Enter at your own risk," she said as her introduction. "The gate to the college is locked. You will not gain entry."  
>"I mean no harm," I replied. "I am merely here because I believe I'm meant to be."<p>

The elf looked me over as though she didn't believe a word I told her.

"Is that so?" She asked. "And what makes you believe this?"  
>"You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you, miss," I replied.<br>"Faralda," she snapped. "And if you wish to enter, you must have good reasoning. Are you skilled with magic, or do you have another purpose to be here?"

I thought really hard about what to say. I was afraid if I told her I was here because of a dream, she would think I was crazy. But as I thought I had no good reason, I remembered what happened with Uthgerd in Bleak Falls Barrow.

"I believe I do possess some magic," I assured her.  
>"Is that so?" She replied. "Then would you care to show me?"<p>

I quickly got a knot in my stomach. If it was magic, I didn't know how to use it. I finally got up the courage to tell her the truth.

"To be honest, I'm not sure how. I had an incident a few days ago that I believe to be magic. That's why I am here."

Faralda looked at me as though I was spinning some wild tale. After the long pause of silence, she finally spoke up.

"What was it that happened, exactly?" She asked.  
>"I saved someone from a grievous wound," I replied. "I'm not sure how I did it. All I know is she was hurt, I put my hand over her wound, and there was a flash of light. After I removed my hand, her wound had healed."<br>"Oh really?" She chuckled. "And can you show me this power?"  
>"No, ma'am." I answered with a sad expression.<p>

Faralda stood there looking at me with disbelief for a moment.

"Very well," she said. "I will let you in. Perhaps Tolfdir can assist you in focusing your magic."

She signaled me to follow her along the long decaying bridge to the college. Along the way she told me a little about the college's history and what it stands for. Also, she seemed to cast spells into, what appeared to be, wells of water. But, as she cast the spells, the wells started to glow a blueish color. Finally, when we reached the end, she lit the final well, and the large gate to the college opened.

"There you go," Faralda said. "Now, when you go inside, you should meet a woman named Mirabelle Ervine. Inform her that you need to see Tolfdir."

I gave her my thanks as she walked back towards the entrance of the bridge. I made my way inside and was already amazed by the way everything looked. The large statue in the center in the shape of a powerful mage. In front of that was a larger water well that was glowing with a brilliant blue. At the doors to the front of the college stood a woman. She was writing in a large ledger and appeared as though she was frustrated about something. I made it a point to approach her carefully.

"Excuse me," I began. "But are you Mirabelle Ervine?"  
>She looked up. "Indeed, I am. Are you a new student?"<br>"Not exactly," I replied. "I was told to speak to Tolfdir. I may possess magic, but I don't know how to use it."

Mirabelle looked at me with the biggest sign of confusion I've ever seen.

"Are you sure about that?" She asked.  
>"Trust me," I answered. "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't important."<p>

She looked me over just like Faralda did just before signalling me inside. We entered the college and just past the entrance was a large circular room with a large stone well in the center. On the other side of the room, stood an elderly man in mage robes. Mirabelle pointed to him.

"That's him," she said. "But, do be warned, if you try anything, you won't walk out of here in one piece."

I looked at her in shock as she walked back out. Then, I turned my attention back towards this Tolfdir. I made my way to him as he noticed me and seemed to urge me to come speak with him.

"Hello," he began. "I'm glad to see a new face around here. Will you be a new student here at the college."  
>"I'm not sure," I replied. "I'm here on... Special circumstances."<p>

Tolfdir looked confused as he motioned me to sit down and speak with him.

"Tell me," he insisted. "What circumstances?"

I told him the entire story. From what happened in Helgen, to my dream, and finally, the incident in the barrow. But as I told my story, Tolfdir seemed troubled, so I had to ask.

"What is the matter?"  
>"Tell me," he replied. "What was you and your brother's names again?"<br>I looked him over with confusion as I answered, "Karrick and Jorvin."

Tolfdir stood up and began pacing the room. He seemed as though he was worried about something but he wasn't telling me.

"Do you know me?" I asked.  
>"Perhaps," he replied quickly.<br>I urged a real answer from him. "What is it you're not telling me, Tolfdir?"

He contined to think to himself. But as I began to grow angry with his silence, he seemed to have a breakthrough.

"This vision of yours," he started. "You said you could see a woman who claimed to be your mother?"  
>"Yes," I replied.<br>"What did she look like?" He asked in a hurry.  
>With confusion all over my face I answered, "I'm not sure. She didn't seem like a nord. She almost seemed elvish. But that can't be right. I know that's not my mother."<p>

Tolfdir quickly grew into a panic.

"You must come with me," he said. "We must speak with Savos Aren, the arch mage."  
>"What's going on?" I demanded out of him.<br>He looked at me with concern before finally answering, "I knew your mother. Her name was Lorinai."

I could feel my eyes grow larger than they've ever been. How was it that Tolfdir knew my mother? How was it possible? I needed answers, but I knew we needed to speak to this Savos to get them. We made our way to an upper level of the college to, what looked like, a master bedroom. But it was strange. There were plants growing almost everywhere. And it seemed more like a mage's shop than a bedroom.

Across the room I could see an elderly dark elf wearing large hooded blue robes. This must have been Savos Aren.

"Savos," Tolfdir called out.

Savos came towards us.

"What is it, Tolfdir?" He asked. "Please don't tell me another apprentice has incinerated a fellow student."  
>"No, Savos," he replied. "It's this lad. I believe he is one of Lorinai's children."<p>

Savos stopped in his place with his eyes wider than mine.

"Are you sure?" Savos asked.  
>"I'm almost positive," Tolfdir replied.<p>

The three of us stood as Savos was filled in on all the information that I told Tolfdir. The more we spoke, the more Savos appeared to believe Tolfdir. But I was still left in the dark. How do I know this Lorinai woman is my mother?

"We must talk privately," Savos commented. "Tolfdir, please make sure no one disturbs us and lock my doors."  
>"At once," he replied as he hurried to do so.<br>"Now then," Savos continued. "Please take a seat, Karrick. I have a lot to inform you on."

I sat in a chair across from the arch mage as he took his seat. He pulled a small flower from his satchel and placed it in a bowl. He then lit it with a very small fire spell to cause the aroma to fill the room. Finally, after he settle down, he began to tell me his story.

"Karrick, you probably won't believe me when I tell you this, but you must know that everything I am about to tell you is the truth. Tolfdir and I knew your mother. She lived in a small cottage in the northern part of Hjaalmarch with your father. After she gave birth to you, she came here and asked that if anything were to happen to her, that we would bring you here. However, I don't think she was expecting to have your brother, Jorvin. Things became more complicated then."

He quickly fanned out the smoke before continuing.

"After your brother's birth, she became very ill. Your father had to make more frequent visits to Morthal for medicines. Then, one day, a Thalmor agent learned of your mother's existence. Afterwards, several visits were made to your parents, for they feared of what she was. Karrick, your mother was not a nord. She was a Snow Elf, thought to have been wiped out long ago. She tried to pass off as another High Elf like the Thalmor race, but they saw through her trickery. The Thalmor sent agents in the middle of the night to kill both your parents."

I looked at Savos in disbelief, but I could tell from the sadness in his eyes that he was not lying to me. So I continued to listen.

"After the grim news reached us here, Tolfdir and I raced to your home in hopes to find you and your brother. But you were gone. We searched for months, but nothing turned up. We thought for sure you were dead. Killed alongside your parents. But, thankfully, it appears you were not."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. That would explain why my brother and I were orphaned back then, but it was still hard to believe that our mother was an elf. Let alone an elf that should have been long dead.

"So," I began in hard thought. "If what you say is true, then, my brother and I suffered all of those years because of the Thalmor?"  
>"I'm afraid so, yes," Savos replied.<br>"And that would explain what happened to me at Bleak Falls Barrow?" I asked.  
>Savos thought to himself for a second before speaking, "It's a good chance. Your mother did possess some skill in magic. But hers was different."<br>"What does that mean?" I asked.  
>"She was a paladin," we heard Tolfdir shout from across the room.<p>

As he walked closer, I could see he had a large book in his hand. When he approached, he sat the book down in front of me.

"In this book," he continued. "It tells the only known recorded history of the snow elf's and their knight-paladin order. They were extremely gifted in not only protective magics, but very gifted in healing magic, as well. That could explain how you saved your friend."

I looked at Tolfdir in a way that only had one question behind it.

"Yes, Karrick," he continued. "I believe you've inherited your mother's abilities as a paladin."


	7. History and Conflict

As I remained at the college the next week, I still couldn't bring myself to believe Tolfdir and Savos Aren. None of what they said made any sense. My brother and I, the sons of a snow elf? It just couldn't be true. But I continued to study the book that Tolfdir brought to me. In it, shared the few secrets of the Knight-Paladin order of the snow elves. Although not much of it could be creditable because most tales of skyrim's history, that survived through the ages, were written by nords.

In my studies, I came across a point in the book that told the tale of the last remaining remnants of the order.

' _As the snow elves numbers began to dwindle around 1E 143-221, those who remained, retreated back to their home, known only as the Sanctum. There, the Knight-Paladin order used what magic and strength they had left to attempt to seal themselves away from the nords._

_However, from reports and hearsay, it is believed that no snow elf survived the end of the war. And those who might, had died shortly after._

_Some would even believe that a few number of survivors hid away within skyrim. Although no such report has been discovered.'_

"Find anything helpful?" I heard a voice behind me.

It was Tolfdir, coming to check on me, I would guess.

I sighed as I responded, "Nothing. Just tales about what happened during the war."

He pulled up a chair next to me to help me look over this large book. It was unbelievable that a nord would take this much interest in a race of elves. Most nords despised elves.

"Perhaps there is something written in here about the magic that the elves possessed," said Tolfdir as he slid the book in front of him and flipped through the pages.

I got up to grab a mug of water while letting Tolfdir scroll through the book. I had been sleepless for days trying to find the answers. All the while, I wanted to be done and check on my brother. I had hoped the rumor was true that he went to Riften. But for what reason? But, I couldn't bother myself with that. I had to have faith he was alright.

"Ah ha," I heard Tolfdir shout. "Here we are."  
>"What is it?" I asked.<br>"Look here," he replied. "This should give us our answers about your magic."

After placing my mug down, I looked to where Tolfdir was pointed and continued to read.

'_As my studies into the snow elves continued, I managed to come across a very feint note that was left in a journal. The journal was found in the ruins of Saarthal, the Atmoran nord's capital. The journal was badly damaged and the only information I cared to remember was the note on the elves restorative magic._

_"ME 987_  
><em>Saarthal is lost. Ysgramor and his sons have escaped and began the campaign to drive the elves from Solsthiem. If we win this battle, we can work to drive them from Skyrim, as well.<em>

_The only trouble we face is the elves' powerful magic. They can instantly heal themselves and their allies. I saw one of them. I thought for sure he was dead. But one of them managed to heal him to full strength before he drew his last breath._

_Divines, guide us. This war just get's harder with each fight. But I believe in Ysgramor. He will win this war."_

_Although it is unclear how reliable this journal is, I believe that is a creditable fact that the snow elves controlled healing magic more powerful than even the most skilled priest and healer of our time.'_

As we finished reading, Tolfdir began running his hand over his beard and looked as though he was in deep thought. I thought back on my incident back at Bleak Falls Barrow. If I was the son of a snow elf, and even a Knight-Paladin, then it would explain how I was able to heal Uthgerd before she died.

"So what do you think?" Tolfdir asked.  
>"I believe," I started, hesitation in my voice. "I'm starting to think your story about me is true. However, how was it that my mother could even be? The snow elves were wiped out ages ago."<p>

Tolfdir looked just as puzzled as me.

"I'm not sure," he said. "Although it is possible some did survive, I also know that the elves had very long life spans. However, if your mother was simply immortal, I cannot say."

Some of it began to make sense, while some of it still confused me to the point I wanted to scream and hope that I could wake up from this nightmare and be back to my old life in Helgan.

"Well," Tolfdir continued. "Perhaps we should start focusing on how you can control your magic. It will take much practice and concentration. But I will be here to assist you every step of the way."  
>"Thank you," I replied.<br>Tolfdir shook his head. "No need to thank me," he said. "Your mother was our friend. It's the least I can do."

As we made our way out of the Arcanium library, we passed by the only person in the whole college that never seemed to take his eyes off me. His name was Ancano, and he was a Thalmor agent sent to be the 'adviser' to Savos Aren. However, there wasn't much advising being done as of late.

We entered the Hall of Elements, which was the ideal place for mages to practice their magic. It was here that Tolfdir would begin to train me on how to channel my magic and use it, if I did truly possess such skill.

Just before we could begin, Savos entered the room in a quickened pace. He looked as though he was concerned about something.

"Is something the matter, Savos?" Tolfdir asked.  
>"Indeed," he replied. "It seems our adviser has grown quite the curiosity of our friend here."<p>

I looked Savos directly in the eyes.

"You mean me, don't you?" I asked.  
>"I'm afraid so," he replied. "He's began to suspect you're here for matters more than learning magic. No matter what, we must keep what you are in the dark. No one, outside the three of us, must know who or what you are."<p>

Tolfdir and I both looked concerned for Savos. If Ancano learned of who I truly was, it would mean more danger for, not only me, but my brother and everyone in the college.

After agreeing to not say anything, Savos joined Tolfdir in helping me learn to focus my magic. I knew it was going to be a long and grueling process, but if it worked, it would pay off. Not only for me, but for any future allies.

"Are you ready?" Tolfdir asked.  
>"I am," I replied.<p>

Savos stepped forward.

"Very good," he said. "Now, we're going to teach you how to defend yourself. Let's start with the basics, with wards."

And thus began my training in magic. Hopefully, this would turn out to be more enjoyable than reading books all day.


	8. Mother's Love

My magic training had been rather frustrating over the next several days. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get anything to happen. Savos was beginning to doubt that I even was the child of Lorinai. Of course, I doubted it from the start. Either way, I couldn't give up. I knew what happened with Uthgerd wasn't a dream or any kind of mistake. I healed her.

"Perhaps there is something blocking you from focusing your magic mentally," Tolfdir suggested as he sat down to eat his lunch.

We had been at my training all day as usual. I was exhausted and so was he. I couldn't help but think he was right. Perhaps I was only able to heal Uthgerd in fear of her dying.

"What do you suggest?" I asked.  
>"I'm not sure," he replied. "Maybe we should speak to Savos about being able to channel your inner psyche. There must be something we're missing."<p>

Savos Aren had not assisted in my training for a few days. He was far too concentrated on keeping Ancano from asking too many questions. He tried to forcefully introduce himself to me on several occasions, but Tolfdir and Savos were both lucky enough to find an excuse to rush me along. But, it seemed as though our ruse had finally been countered.

As we made our way to find Savos, Ancano cut us off at the doorway to Savos' chambers.

"Ah, if it isn't the mysterious student and his questionable teacher," Ancano said as he stood, blocking the doorway in an intimidating stance.

Tolfdir tried to distract him so that I could make my way into the Arch-Mage chambers, however, Ancano would not be so easily tricked this time.

"I've had quite enough of the run arounds, Tolfdir," Ancano said in an angered tone. "I only wish to properly meet the student that has kept, not only yourself, but the arch-mage so busy as of late."

Ancano looked me over as though he was trying to size up an enemy. Little did he know, I wanted to rip his throat out. If the story of my mother is true, it was the Thalmor who killed my parents. However, I couldn't risk exposing who I was or my intentions. At least not yet.

"Well," I started. "I meant no disrespect. I've just been having a very hard time learning how to use my magic and I've been receiving special treatment is all. Tolfdir and Savos are old acquaintances of mine."

I had hoped that he would buy into my lie, at least long enough to buy us some time. I could see in the high elf's eyes that he didn't completely believe what I was telling him. However, it appeared that it helped avoid any further conflict as he moved aside and let us proceed.

"Just remember," he snarled as we made our way past him. "I'm watching you. And if I see anything that is of concern to the Aldmeri Dominion, I will be making a full report to my superiors."

I just turned my head towards him and slightly bowed as I continued through the doorway to the arch-mage's chambers. When we reached the chambers, Savos was sitting in a chair next to his alchemy table reading a book.

"Ah, Tolfdir," Savos began to greet us. "Any progress?"  
>"Afraid not," Tolfdir replied, a slight sadness in his voice. "And I'm afraid we're running out of time. Ancano is becoming more suspicious by the day."<p>

Savos sighed in annoyance.

"Tolfdir mentioned something about channeling my inner psyche to help focus my magic," I said with a bit of rushed momentum.  
>"Is that right?" Savos questioned, a look of assurance on his face. "There is a good chance that would help. Perhaps even find the key to unlocking your potential. Although, not many with magic need perform something this risky."<p>

My eyes locked on him with a cold, scared expression.

"What do you mean, risky?" I asked with hesitation.

Savos motioned us to find seats before he began to explain the process to me.

"There are some mages who require tapping into their own mentality to unlock their skill. Although it is very rare, it does happen. Some need this simply because a hidden emotion from their past can block their mental awareness, which can cause them to lose focus and make it impossible to perform magic. There is a chance that this same thing is happening to you. Your _incident_ may have been triggered by your emotion; fear."

"If we can focus your consciousness to join with your psyche, you may be able to find what is blocking your will," Tolfdir commented.

I tried to wrap my head around everything that was being said to me.

"So what is the risk?" I asked.  
>"Simply put," Savos replied. "If at any point you and your psyche become unstable during this process, you risk losing your mind completely."<p>

I shuttered at the thought of what could come of this. But, I had no choice. If I was indeed the son of a knight-paladin, I needed to learn how to use my magic. I needed the edge in case I needed to defend myself against something other than steel.

"Alright," I said as I stood up with confidence. "Let's get this over with."

Over the next few hours, Savos, Tolfdir, and I prepared for the ritual in secret. The last thing we needed was someone interrupting us and risking everything. As I lay on the bed, both Savos and Tolfdir stood on both sides of me. They each had their own duties. Savos would concentrate his magic on my mind, while Tolfdir would perform any healing magic in case my body tried to reject the process.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Savos asked.  
>"I'm sure," I replied, clenching my fists to prepare myself.<p>

Savos places his hands over my head.

"Now, you will probably feel like your head is being split open," he said as I watched his hands begin to glow. "Whatever you do, don't fight it."

The light from his hands grew brighter and I felt my brain feel like it was catching fire. Shortly after, the pain became intense. I shouted out just before everything went black.

After the pain seemed to disappear, I felt as though I was standing. Everything around me was dark. I couldn't see, not even my hands in front of my face. As I wondered around the darkness, I tried calling out. Nothing.

Suddenly, I started to hear broken voices all around me. Some sounded familiar, while others were hard to make out.

"How much for the two runts?"  
>"Don't take my brother away!"<br>"You want to eat? I say when it's time to eat."  
>"Karrick, run!"<br>"We'll always be together, right?"

It all became clear to me. It was the voices of my past. The pain I suffered through all the years. I could feel the tears start to run down my face as the voices overwhelmed me. I felt like a child all over again. I felt helpless. And worse, I didn't have my brother here with me.

As I started to cry out for them to stop, I could feel a familiar warmth start to surround me as the voices faded away. I knew this feeling. I felt it after I escaped Helgen.

"My son," I heard a woman's voice call. "You've finally come."

I looked up to see the same figure as before standing in front of the same brilliant light.

"M... Mother?" I called out.

The light surrounded us and suddenly I was standing in, what appeared to be, a large white room. As I looked back towards the woman, I could see a beautiful pale faced elf woman with long white-blonde hair. Her eyes glimmered as they stared back at me. She was wearing a white silk looking cloth that slung over her left shoulder.

"Karrick," the woman said with a smile that seemed to bring peace to me.  
>"Are you Lorinai?" I asked with hesitation.<p>

She walked closer to me, the warming feeling grew more intense as she approached. I couldn't help but feel as though I didn't want it to end.

"Yes," she replied. "Although, I would prefer if you would just call me, mother."

We both snickered a bit.

"I know you have so many questions," she continued. "But, sadly, we only have a short time."

I knew she was right. But I wanted to know as much as I could, but only the things that mattered needed to be asked before Savos had to reverse the spell.

"I know I have magic abilities, but why can't I control it?" I asked.  
>"Faith," she replied. "We snow elves drew our power and prided it on our beliefs in the divines. You must have faith in the divines if you wish to control your powers as a paladin."<p>

I knew I was in trouble. My brother and I never believed in the divines. We only knew that the daedric lords existed because of previous accounts in history where they made their presence known. It was hard for us to believe simply because of the life we were forced to live.

"I know you don't believe," she continued. "But you must. It is the only way you can focus your will and carry out that will. It must be in their name."  
>"But how can I believe?" I asked.<p>

She reached her hand out and placed it on my cheek. The warming sensation seemed to soak into my very soul.

"Because," she replied. "It's of their choosing that I get to see my son one last time."

I looked at her with concern.

"What do you mean, one last time?" I asked. "And what about Jorvin? Have you tried to reach out to him?"

She pulled her hand away and looked down with sadness. Tears formed in her eyes.

"Jorvin is lost to me," she said. "Like I told you before, he has chosen his own path. He is no longer the man you knew before. But I promise you, he is safe."  
>"What are you talking about?" I demanded.<p>

She turned her back to me and began to cry. I couldn't help but feel as though I wanted to hold her and comfort her. But I still didn't quite understand.

"Karrick," she said. "Your brother now follows in the steps of a deadric prince. I can no longer see him. It's as though I've lost my son.

I grew shocked at what she was saying. My brother, following a deadra? How was that possible?

"I had so many hopes for you boys," she continued. "Your father and I did everything we could. But we were taken from you."

She turned to me again and placed her hand on my head. A flash of visions raced through my mind. It was her and a nord man. It was my father. They were both happy together. Then, I could see my brother and I. Jorvin was just a baby, and I just barely able to walk. She then took her hand away. I began to weep as I looked this woman in the eyes and could see my mother.

"You are my mother," I said as the tears ran down my face.  
>"Yes," she said. "But not the mother I should have been."<p>

I quickly hugged her.

"It's not your fault," I assured her.

We both stood their and made what little conversation we could until I noticed a little tingle in my head. Savos had begun reversing the spell to bring me back. The light around us began to dim.

"We're out of time," she said.  
>"No," I shouted.<br>"Karrick, you must believe. Believe in the divines. Believe in me. You are my son, and the last line of the Knight-Paladin order. I will always love you. Please believe."

She faded out with the light. I fought to stay with her. The warming feeling turned into pain. The struggle became more painful by the second. My mind felt as though it would break. Suddenly, I could hear shouting.

"Karrick, you must wake up!"

I opened my eyes to see I was back in the room with Savos and Tolfdir. Both appeared to be exhausted from the amount of magic they were concentrating on me. As I regained consciousness, the two fell back onto the floor to catch their breath. I rose from the bed and helped them both to their feet.

"We were afraid we'd lost you," said Savos, gasping for air.  
>"Did you find anything out?" Tolfdir asked.<p>

After helping them up, I stood in front of them. I closed my eyes and began to think back to the feeling of being with my mother. The feeling of comfort and love. I felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off of me. I knew who I was now. I knew who my mother was. And with this feeling I opened my eyes, raised my hands towards both of them, and watched as I felt a rush go through me and mystical white lights swirled around them. I smiled as I healed them both and made my comment.

"Exactly what I needed to."


	9. Hand of the Divines

Over the course of the next few days my training was going smoothly. Savos and Tolfdir both took to their teaching with pride. I learned everything from protective spells and wards to fend against magic to advanced healing spells. I also noticed that my healing was slightly more powerful than even those who have been studying magic for years. I was very pleased with how everything was coming along.

"You're doing very well," Tolfdir said as he continued to throw spells at me to block.  
>"It's all thanks to you," I replied, a ward spread out in front of me.<p>

We continued my defensive training for a short while longer before finally taking a break. However, little to our knowledge, Ancano had been taking extra time to watch me closely. I had managed to avoid him after our little dispute a few days before, but his elven eyes were always on me.

As Tolfdir and I sat down to regain our strength, Ancano attempted to approach us.

"Tolfdir," he started. "The arch-mage wishes to speak with you in his chambers. There has been an incident with one of the students."  
>"Already?" Tolfdir asked as he rose to his feet. "I guess I better go see what is needed. They are my responsibility after all."<p>

It was no surprise to us that there could have been an incident. The college had received three new students just the day before. I hadn't had the chance to meet them personally, I just knew they were a khajiit, a lady dark elf, and, surprisingly, another nord. Unfortunately when Tolfdir tried to teach them, they all wanted to learn advanced magics in a hurry which could be dangerous to impatient students.

Tolfdir made his way to the arch-mage's chambers and I remained in the hall of elements. Alone. With Ancano standing in front of me with a look of purpose on his face. This was unsettling to me. I tried not to make eye contact with him in fear that he would attempt to read me like a book and try to interrogate me as before.

"Now that I have you to myself," he said. "We can finally address the issue of who you really are."

My gut churned at what he just said. What did he mean? But before I could have a chance to reply, he immediately charged up some spells and began attacking me.

As I dodged and threw up wards to block his incoming attacks, I tried to gain some distance between us to assess my situation and find a way to counter him. Why was he attacking? Has he found out who I was? I couldn't think about it for long without having to continue moving.

"What are you doing?" I shouted, demanding an answer.  
>"I've discovered your secret, and now the mages here cannot save you in time," he replied, a sign of amusement in his voice.<br>"What are you talking about?" I continued.  
>"Your blood," he shouted. "You are the last descendant of a fowl race that should have died a long time ago."<p>

That was it. He knew. So now I had to find a way out of this mess. But, if he knew, then what about the rest of the Thalmor? Did they know? Would I have to spend the rest of my life hiding?

Shortly after our skirmish had started, Tolfdir and Savos ran into the hall to confront Ancano. But before they could help, Ancano blasted the arch-mage with a powerful lightning spell. Tolfdir managed to throw up a ward before it hit him.

With the little distraction away from me, I drew my blade and put everything I had into running at Ancano. Casting a ward with my left and ready to strike with my right, I closed the gap between us and began my counter-attack on Ancano.

"Enough," he shouted as he charged another spell.

I knew the next one was one of fire and I threw up my ward to block it. However, it was more powerful than I thought, as it exploded and threw me back into a stone pillar knocking me nearly unconscious. As I lay there, barely being able to keep my eyes open, Ancano approached me ready to deal his final blow.

"You thought you could fool me," he taunted as he stood over me. "Your mother was just as much a fool. But I saw through her trickery. And it was a great pleasure to watch her die. Now your rotten bloodline ends here."

My blood boiled as I heard this. He wasn't just Thalmor, he was the agent sent after my mother. He was the one who killed my parents. I wanted to throw myself at him, but I could barely focus due to the blow to my head.

As Ancano charged another spell to finish me, all the mages of the College flooded the hall. When Ancano realized he was outnumbered, he blasted a hole in the wall and made his escape. I watched him climb through and make one last look at me before I blacked out.

When I awoke later, Tolfdir and a few others were looking over me. All of them with a upsetting look on their faces. When Tolfdir noticed, he quickly came to my side.

"Thank goodness you're alright," he said. "How do you feel?"  
>"A little sore," I replied, sitting up to face everyone. "I think I cracked a couple ribs on that impact."<p>

Before I stood up, I concentrated my magic on myself to cast a healing spell. As the magic did it's job, I could feel the bones set themselves back into place and seal their cracks. Once they were finished I stood up feeling relieved and refreshed.

"Did anyone manage to catch Ancano?" I asked.  
>"Sadly no," Tolfdir replied. "And we have some very bad news."<br>"What is it?" I questioned, hurrying the answer out of him.  
>He looked at me with pain in his eyes as he opened his mouth, "It's Savos. He didn't make it."<p>

The arch-mage was dead. Ancano escaped. This was turning out to be the worst day of my life. I knew it wouldn't be long before Ancano attacked again, so I had to make my move.

"Did anyone see where Ancano fled?" I asked.  
>"This one did," I heard a strange voice call from behind the crowd.<p>

As people moved aside to let the person who spoke step forward, I noticed it was the new khajiit student.

"J'zargo saw the elf running towards the old ruins of Saarthal as we made our way back to the college."

Saarthal. The old atmoran nord's capital from the merethic era. Why would Ancano flee there? Why not back to the Thalmor embassy? Surely he wanted to finish me off personally. Either way, Tolfdir and I knew we had to seek him out before he could do any further damage.

Savos Aren, the arch-mage, was murdered. We had to stop Ancano. Tolfdir and I gathered a few of the seasoned mages of the college, including Mirabelle Ervine, and proceeded to Saarthal.

Once we reached the ruins, we all gathered ourselves to prepare for any trap that Ancano may have laid out for us. Once inside, we found a doorway that was freshly made that was not found by the excavation crew. On the way through the ruins we came across some drougr who rose from their crypts to stop us. It was no intention of mine to disturb these corpses, but we had no choice.

As we fought our way through, I felt a strange presence flow all round me. Suddenly, I noticed that time itself had appeared to stand still. None of my companions were moving and everything just seemed to freeze in place.

"Hold there," I heard an echoing voice call to me. I clenched my blade in my hand tightly, ready for whatever may come. "I am not your enemy. I have come to warn you."

Shortly after, a man in white and red colored robes appeared in front of me. He was a high elf for sure. My first thought was another Thalmor. But he seemed as though he needed my help, so I listened.

"I'm afraid we have no time for introductions," the man continued. "But there is a power here that is in danger of being misused. You must stop your Thalmor adversary before he can use that power to destroy this world."  
>"What power?" I asked.<br>"We do not know," he replied. "But we, at the Psijic Order are forbidden from personally interfering. So we are relying on you and your companions to bring this threat to an end."

I looked at the man with confusion. Psijic Order? "Who were they?" I thought to myself. As I pondered on whether or not to trust this person, I did agree that Ancano needed to be stopped.

"Very well," I said. "We have a mutual goal. So I will do everything in my power to stop him."  
>"You must hurry," he said. "and know that the order is watching you."<p>

With those final words he disappeared and everything started to move again.

"What was that?" Tolfdir asked. "I'm sure I felt something just now."  
>"I felt it too," I replied. "But we cannot waste time. We must move."<p>

As we made our way through the rest of the ruins, we were suddenly attacked by creatures never before seen. They were like bright white lights wondering the halls of the ruins. Magical wisps of some kind. They were quite difficult to kill, but we managed to force our way through with no casualties.

We finally reached the main chamber of Saarthal. There we witnessed a site that we couldn't believe. A massive blue orb hovered in the air. It appeared to be breaking apart into several metal sections. Strange white markings lined all of the edges of the sections. And standing beside it, drawing whatever power from it, was Ancano.

His laughter echoed through the chamber as he continued to wield the power of the orb.

"You're too late," he shouted, laughter still in his voice. "The orb has granted me unlimited power. No one can stand against me now."  
>"Ancano," I shouted back. "You will die this day for your actions."<p>

He continued to laugh at me without breaking his concentration. Mirabelle tried to make her move on him, as did a few other mages behind her. As we slowly approached Ancano from all sides, we thought we had him. We were wrong. As Mirabelle tried to interrupt Ancano, a burst of white light blinded everyone and blew us back. I was knocked out from the impact.

Shortly after, I awoke to Tolfdir trying to get my attention. Behind him a large blue magical wall swirled around the center of the chamber, preventing anyone from reaching Ancano.

"Are you alright?" Tolfdir asked.  
>"Yes," I replied. "And everyone else?"<br>"Mirabelle didn't survive the blast." he said as he helped me to my feet, sadness overwhelming his voice.

I watched as Ancano continued to draw more power from the orb. I placed my hand into the barrier he had created. It started to burn my glove to my gauntlet. I knew that no one was stepping through that thing alive.

"Is this it?" Tolfdir asked. "Is this how it will end? Destroyed by a power hungry tyrant?"

I thought to myself on what to do. I was afraid that Tolfdir's fears would come true. As I started to doubt our survival, I had a sudden flash of a vision. It was my mother. She was smiling and reaching her hand out to me. As I reached for her, I could hear her whisper to me.

"Believe."

At that moment, I knew what I had to do. I gathered the mages and told them to concentrate their magics together and create a massive ward to protect themselves.

"What are you going to do?" Tolfdir asked.  
>I looked him in the eyes with assurance before I said, "What I'm meant to do."<p>

I turned towards the barrier and focused my sights on Ancano. Placing a protective spell on myself and casting a healing spell, I stepped through. The intense force felt like the hottest mountain lava on my skin, but my spells kept me whole. After I finished stepping through, Ancano stared with doubt.

"That's impossible," he shouted. "My power should have destroyed you. It does not matter, for soon I will have enough to wipe your entire pathetic existence off of this world."

I continued to step forward without fear. My alteration spell still warding off the barriers affects.

"Your madness ends here," I said, cold but calmly.  
>"And who do you think you are to stop me?" he laughed back to me. "I am invincible."<p>

I continued walking towards him until I was face to face.

"I am a son of Akatosh, the son of Lorinai, and the hand of all the divines. My name is Karrick,"

I quickly unsheathed my blade and ran Ancano through. He quickly gasped for air and let out a slight groan of pain, grabbing my shoulders as my blade ran through him all the way to the hilt. As his widened, fear filled eyes looked into mine, I finished my statement.

"And I am a paladin."

I pulled my blade from his chest and watched as he fell lifeless to the floor. The magic barrier around us dissipated, and the power from the orb began to grow unstable. I knew I wouldn't have time to make it back to the others, so I focused all of my power into creating a ward around myself. A blinding white light burst out from the orb.

I just hoped that everyone else would be safe.


	10. A Bump in the Night

"Mother?" I thought to myself, feeling the darkness surround me.

This feeling was becoming all too familiar to me. I was ready for death. So many things happening to me in such a short time. I started to believe that Jorvin would have to just go on without me. I didn't want to fight anymore.

"Please," I continued my thought. "Take me to Soverngarde. Take me home."

I didn't know what had happened after the explosion at Saarthal. I put every bit of focus into myself to try and guard the force of the unstable magic that pushed out from the orb. However, the power overwhelmed me. I was sure I had died, fearing for the safety of the others. It would seem, however, that the gods had other plans for me.

"Karrick?" a voice called. "I think he's coming to."  
>"Thank the gods," another commented.<p>

After a short time of regaining my consciousness, I finally began to focus on everyone standing around me. Tolfdir stood beside the bed I was laying on, while the rest of the mages flooded the room and hallway of the living quarters.

"Tolfdir?" I called out. "You're alive?"  
>"Indeed," he responded, walking up next to me to help me up. "It's all thanks to your actions that the rest of us can stand here today."<br>"I really need to stop being the one who everyone worries about," I chuckled as I stood. "This blacking out business is really giving me a headache."

Everyone in the room laughed at my horrible joke. Each of them taking turns thanking me for saving them at Saarthal. But, of course, there was the matter of the dead Thalmor agent who's blood was on my hands.

"Tolfdir, any news about Ancano and the rest of the Thalmor?" I asked, fearing for the rest of the college's well-being.  
>"Don't worry," Tolfdir replied. "After word got out about Ancano's actions, the Thalmor wasted no time in sending us a letter assuring us that his actions were of his very own. They even sent us a very large sum of gold as a donation and apology. More likely a way to hope that we would keep silent."<p>

I let out a large sigh of relief. It was good to know that no more lives here would be put in danger because of me.

"What happened to the orb?" I asked.  
>"It was strange," Tolfdir began to answer. "After the explosion, several monks appeared out of nowhere and took the orb. One of them had asked me to thank you for your service. He said that the order would always be watching you. Do you know what that means?"<br>"Indeed," I replied. "During our search inside Saarthal, one of the monks contacted me and warned me about the orb. He claimed to be from the Psyjic Order."  
>"The Psyjic Order..." Tolfdir gasped. "They haven't been heard from in many years. Not since the island that their order resided on mysteriously disappeared."<p>

I finished gathering myself and met the rest of the mages inside the hall of elements. Tolfdir announced that there was an urgent matter that needed to be addressed as soon as possible.

"We need a new arch-mage," said Tolfdir, giving counsel to the rest of the mages, "The college cannot survive without someone to guide it in the right direction."  
>"But who of us could do it?" a voice questioned from the crowd.<p>

The group of mages mumbled to themselves for a moment before Tolfdir asked for my opinion.

"Why don't you do it, Tolfdir?" I asked.  
>"What?" he replied in shock. "I couldn't possibly..."<br>"You were the closest friend of Savos Aren," I quickly cut him off. "And nearly everyone here was taught how to use their magic by you. I can't think of anyone more fitting to be arch-mage than you."

The crowd continued their mumbling in what sounded like approval. Shortly after, the three newest students approached.

"This one seconds Karrick's decision," said J'zargo, the khajiit.  
>"I can think of no one better," said Onmund, the nord.<br>"Karrick saved both our lives and our college. If he believes Tolfdir is fit to be arch-mage, I will support his decision," said Nirya, the lady dark elf.

Everyone rose up their voices in approval to the new arch-mage, Tolfdir. I had no doubt that he would run the college fairly for the remainder of his days until finding someone worthy of taking his place.

With better understanding of my magical powers, I felt it was time for me to leave and find Jorvin. So a few days after Tolfdir became arch-mage, I gathered my things and prepared to leave.

"Are you sure about this?" Tolfdir asked.  
>"I am," I replied. "It's time for me to go. I still have to find Jorvin and make sure he's alright."<br>"Well, if you ever wish to return, you are more than welcome here." he said, bidding me farewell.

I made my way south, outside of Winterhold. I knew that if I could reach Windhelm, I could catch a carriage the rest of the way to Riften. However, my walk would be a long and tiring one. Since hardly anyone made their way to Winterhold anymore, the road was covered in dangerous wildlife. Snow bears, ice wolves, and even frost trolls. Luckily, thanks to my new magical abilities, I was able survive all of my encounters.

After walking and fighting for nearly an entire day, I finally found myself looking over a cliff side at the great city of Windhelm. Knowing that this was home of the Stormcloak rebellion, I had to make sure that I only catch a carriage and get out as fast as possible. The last thing I needed was the attention of a stormcloak rebel who might have survived Helgen and saw me with Hadvar. We both killed several of their men and women. I had no quarrel with them, but they might have one with me.

As I approached the stables, I noticed that there currently wasn't a carriage waiting for passengers. Did I miss it? As I asked around, one of the farmhands informed me that the carriage driver left the day before to take someone to Whiterun. So I had no choice but to spend the night in Windhelm. I was not about to continue walking through the night in the exhausted shape I was in from the day. Although, I would soon wish I had.

I made my way into the city, doing everything I could to keep from gaining any attention. I entered the inn and rented a room for the night.

Later that night, I got up the courage to share a few drinks with some of the locals. Each of them telling stories, spitting vulgar taunts, and even trying to make their moves on the bard. One of the nord men even tried to lay his hands on her when she refused.

"You dark elf bitch," the man growled. "We let you live in our city, and you can't even entertain us properly?"

The man slapped her and she fell to the floor. I jumped up and tackled him. We rolled around, traded punches, and even managed to damage several of the inn's furniture. Luaffyn, the bard, managed to break us up and even offered to buy the next round of mead for the both of us to calm us down. I didn't care for the drink, only that this fool of a nord needed to be taught respect.

"You fight like a real nord," the man continued. "The name's Rolff Stone-Fist. Perhaps you know my brother, the great Galmar. He's Ulfric's right hand."  
>"I'm afraid I don't," I replied, brushing myself off from the fight.<p>

The remainder of the night, I had to listen to Rolff's never-ending tales about how he despises all races that are not nord. Especially the dunmer. I guess it's true that some old hatreds never end. Shortly after, I finally made my way to my room to call it a night. However, in the middle of the night, I was woke by the sounds of struggling and muffled screams.

I grabbed my blade and made my way down the hall to the next room where the sounds were coming from. When I opened the door, I was horrified by the scene. It was Rolff, and he was laying over the top of Luaffyn. Her clothes had been torn and blood ran from her mouth and nose. Her tears covered half of her face. In the struggle I could hear Rolff taunting away at her.

"Where is your hero now, elf slut?"

I wasted no time in charging at Rolff. He saw me coming and quickly jumped to his feet to fend me off. However, flesh was no shield for a blade. I ran Rolff through and saved Luaffyn from her nightmarish encounter. She quickly gathered herself to scramble out of the room. After checking Rolff's body, I confirmed that he was dead. It wasn't my intention to find trouble here tonight, but it found me.

I made my way down the hall into the main room where I found Luaffyn huddled in a corner, too scared to look at anyone. I felt bad for the dunmer. I heard that their living here was rough, but I couldn't even imagine that it was this bad. I made my way over and joined the innkeeper in helping Luaffyn clean up and get her a new set of clothes to change into.

"Thank you," she said to me, wiping the tears from her face with a cloth.  
>"No need to thank me," I replied. "Just get yourself cleaned up and get some sleep."<p>

Shortly after the incident, another man and several guards busted in. The man pointed to me and started to shout, "It's him. He did it." As the guards quickly rushed in to grab me, another very large man with a grey beard and armor that appeared to be made from a bear's hide, walked in behind them. While the guards held me, the man walked through the hallway checking each room. When he entered the one where Rolff's body lay, he took a moment to come back.

When the large man reentered the hall, he glared at me with a stare of death. It was if a daedra had possessed him. He slowly walked towards me as the guards tightened their grip. When the man stood face to face with me, he looked me over as if he wanted to kill me.

"That man in that room," he said, anger overwhelming his voice. "Do you know who he is?"  
>"Someone who I stopped from ra..." I spat back at him before he slugged me in the face without warning.<p>

The impact was massive, but I wasn't knocked out. My vision blurred a bit from the hit.

"Take him away," said the large man. "We'll deal with him in the morning."

The guards dragged me to the palace and down to the cells. They threw me in to what would be the most uncomfortable place I would sleep in a long time. The next morning I was awakened by two guards kicking me. When I came to, I realized I had my wrists tied together by leather straps.

The guards drug me out of the cell and back into the hall of the palace. There, they threw me in front of the throne. When I looked up, I could see three men. One was the large man from the night before, the one sitting on the throne was the one and only Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak, the leader of the rebellion. And the third man made me tremble at his very sight.

This man that stood in front of me gave me both ease and hatred in my heart. He wore the stormcloak blue-clothed covered chain-mail armor, two blades on his hips, and that all too familiar long dark hair fitted with the fine trimmed goatee on his face. His bright blue eyes matching that of mine. For all that was holy, I refused to believe what I saw standing in front of me, with his arms crossed, and that pride filled smirk. My face clenched in hatred as I could see that this man had become a stormcloak rebel. One who I feared dead for many weeks. I finally stood to my feet and let out the loudest yell my voice would allow me.

"Jorvin!"


	11. Family Reunion

As I continued scrambling to my feet to confront Jorvin, one of the guards kicked the back of my knee, planting me back down to the floor. I nearly wanted to weep at the fact that my brother stood there right in front of me; alive and well. But I couldn't look past the fact that he was wearing the stormcloak cuirass.

"Do you know this man?" Ulfric asked Jorvin, His calm but deep voice slightly echoing throughout the hall.  
>"Indeed," he replied. "He is my kin, my brother."<p>

Jorvin uncrossed his arms and stepped towards me. The grin never leaving his face. This man that stood before me who looked like my brother did not seem to care that his own flesh and blood kneeled before him; a prisoner.

"Unfortunately," he added. "It appears he's been up to no good, being placed here in binds in front of you, my lord."  
>"My lord?" I spat at him with question. "Since when do you serve anyone, Jorvin?"<br>"Since I owe him my life, no thanks to you, brother." He hissed back at me.

The look in his deep blue eyes only showed rage towards me. It was if I was looking into the eyes of an enemy looking for a chance to lop my head off.

"I searched for you," I said with a hint of sadness. "I thought you died in Helgen."  
>"Not quite," he replied with a chuckle. "You see, if it had not been for Ulfric and his men," he made his way back in front of me while pointing to Ulfric. "I would be dead. You were nowhere to be found. I thought you dead, until I heard you were seen in Riverwood with that foolish empire supporting family."<p>

The large man quickly stepped forward with shock across his face.

"The empire?" he shouted. "He's in with the imperials?"  
>"No!" I shouted back. "He merely saved my life. I hold no alliegence to anyone, other than my brother."<p>

The large man spat in my face. "Hmph. At least you still have a brother."  
>"Galmar," Ulfric called out. "That's quite enough."<p>

That's when I realized that this man was Glamar Stone-Fist. The brother of Rolff, and Ulfric's right hand. No wonder I'm in binds for what happened.

"I was only protecting the girl that worked at the inn. Luaffyn," I pleaded.  
>"Yes," Ulfric began to aknowledge. "We had reports after your arrest that you had defended her from Rolff's abuse earlier that night as well." Ulfric stood and began walking towards me. "However, you have killed someone in my hold, regardless. A penalty must be paid."<p>

Galmar stepped forward, anxious to get his word in. "I call for an execution."  
>"Now, now, Galmar," Ulfric said peacefully. "What kind of Jarl would I be to execute someone who was merely only trying to help. It was your brother who was in the wrong."<p>

Galmar glared at me with even more hatred. I could tell he wanted his revenge for his brother's death.

"However," Ulfric continued. "I can agree that killing the sod was not necessary, and so I have only one request of you, if you wish to earn your freedom."

Galmar and Jorleiff, Ulfric's steward who had been standing on the side watching this entire conversation, both jumped in shock to his response.

"Ulfric," Galmar started. "You don't possibly mean what I think you mean, do you?"  
>"I'm afraid so," Ulfric replied as he made his way back to his throne, slouching back into his seat. "What better way to deal with it than to have a stranger handle the situation for us?"<br>"But we haven't even made our move on Whiterun," Galmar pleaded. "How can we focus on two major objectives before we've even made our advance?"  
>Ulfric looked to Galmar with confidence. "Simple, we let them handle the Reach, then it will be easy to occupy once we take control of Whiterun."<p>

Jorvin and I both looked at the Jarl, puzzled.

"Them?"

Ulfric signaled Jorleiff over to us. As he made his way over, he pulled a rolled up piece of paper from his pocket.

"You're objective is simple," he began. "The two of you will travel to Markarth and find a way to locate the leader of the Forsworn." He handed the paper to Jorvin, which he looked as though he was frozen in shock. "More than likely this will be a bit difficult since no one knows the identity of him or her. So once you're there, you're on your own. We are having difficulties with the reachmen of that area. So, you are to find their leader and eliminate them."  
>"Cut the head off the snake, and the rest will scatter," Ulfric said with a calming but terrifying tone.<p>

Jorvin looked over the paper before addressing Ulfric. "You want me to go with him?"  
>"Yes," Ulfric replied. "You will be my eyes and ears. If you confirm he does this job for me, he will be let free."<p>

It appeared I had no choice in the matter. But at least it would give me time to talk to Jorvin and catch up. Hopefully.

"Take the prisoner back to his cell and gather his things for the morn," Ulfric called out to the guards."

As they took me away, I could see the look on Jorvin's face. He was not thrilled with this new assignment. Regardless of what becomes of this, at least I know my brother is alive.

The next morning I was awakened by my brother calling to me. "Karrick, wake up. It's time." He opened my cell door and threw a bag into the floor. "Your things."

I quickly changed from the ragged clothes they gave me upon confiscating my belongings, and changed back into my armor. Once I finished tightening all of the straps, I made my way outside of my cell where Jorvin had my sword and shield in his hands. He played with the shield a bit, like he was trying to get a feel for it.

"You always were one for defensive fighting," he commented as he passed them to me. "I prefer the more subtle approach."  
>I smirked. "Well, one of us has to keep their head attached."<p>

We both chuckled a bit.

"Listen, brother," Jorvin continued. "I'm sorry things turned out this way. But Ulfric is right. Skyrim deserves it's independence."  
>"Since when have any of us been political?" I retorted. "You and I were always just fine with living our lives without politics."<br>"_You_ were," he spat back. "That's how _you _wanted to live. I always wanted to make a difference. But I couldn't because _big brother_ never wanted to step outside of the walls." He made his way around me and tightened the leather strap on my chest piece. "But _here_ I can make a difference. _Here_ I can be somebody."  
>"You <em>are<em> somebody," I replied. "Listen, I found something out about moth..."

Just then, we were interrupted by a guard.

"You two ready to leave?"

"Yes," Jorvin replied, quickly making his way to the door.

Before I could get another word out, Jorvin had disappeared. After letting out a long sigh of frustration, I made my way out with him to ride the carriage to Markarth.

Along our way, I tried to make small talk with Jorvin to find out what had happened to him after Helgen. He didn't seem like he was in the mood to talk, but he entertained my curiosity none the less.

"After we were separated, I was able to make my way out thanks to Ulfric and a few of his men. After we escaped, we all split up to avoid being tracked by the imperials. I had cut through Riverwood, but I didn't stop. I must have went through shortly before you arrived. But once I reached Whiterun, I met this strange woman in crazy looking leather armor. Before I could even get a word out, she attacked me. We must have fought for at least half the day. Once we realized neither of us was going to win, she offered for me to join her."

He began chuckling a bit with a sign of blushing on his face.

"What's so funny?" I asked.  
>"What?" he replied. "No, nothing. She was just one hell of a woman is all."<br>"Is that when you took the carriage to Riften?" I asked, trying to match his story with the rumors I had heard.  
>"Yes," he replied, clearing his throat and straightening his look. "We made our way there and she introduced herself as Vex. She was a member of a secret organization based out of Riften. However, when they offered me a place in their ranks, I had to decline. Turned out they were thieves. And I'm no thief. So instead, I made my way to Windhelm and joined with Ulfric, hoping to repay my debt to him."<p>

It was strange to hear him say that. I felt the same about Hadvar. But I didn't want to get caught in a civil war that did not involve me. But, I could not blame him.

"So what happened to you?" he finally asked.

So I used this time to explain to him everything that had happened over the past month. And with each story I told, he appeared to be in even more disbelief. Especially when I came to the story about our mother.

"An elf?" He retorted. "There is no way."  
>"I'm telling you the truth, Jorvin," I replied. "I wouldn't lie to you about something like this."<br>"I still can't believe it. I'm sorry, brother." He continued to brush off my tale.

It was sad to see my own brother basically call me a liar.

As we reached Whiterun, the driver wanted to make a quick stop to check the condition of his wheels before we continued. However, our visit would not be a pleasant one. Upon stopping, I noticed Irileth running down the path towards us from the city with several guards behind her.

"Karrick?" she called out. "Is that you?"  
>"Aye," I called back.<br>"Thank the gods you're here," she continued. "We could use your help. A dragon has been spotted nearby at the western watchtower. Will you help us?"

I looked at Jorvin as though waiting for his approval. He nodded his head and we both joined Irileth. She quickly filled me in on the report she had about this dragon before we reached the tower.

"A dragon?" Jorvin asked, excitement filling his voice. "Finally, we get to have a real challenge together, brother."  
>I smirked. "Don't get ahead of yourself, Jorvin."<p>

We reached the tower, and sure enough, you could tell a dragon had been their. The fires consumed nearly the entire area. Several guards lay dead on the ground around it. It was if I was back in Helgen, just without the raining fire from the sky.

A surviving guard made his way out of the tower. Fear completely covering his entire face. The poor man could barely walk, he was so terrified.

"No," he called out. "Get back. It's still here somewhere."  
>"Are you alright?" I asked, quickly running up to assist him.<br>"I'm fine, thanks," he replied. But the others were grabbed when they tried to make a run for it."

We continued to look around for any other survivors. That's when we heard it. The thunderous roar of the dragon coming down from the mountain.

"Kynareth, save us," the guard called out. "Here he comes again."

The rest of us braced ourselves. Jorvin and I stood next to each other as we always did preparing for the battle. I cast an alteration spell on myself, catching Jorvin by surprise. He looked at me as though he finally started to see truth in my tale about the college. But, before he could have a chance to question me, the dragon approached.


	12. A Real Challenge

The dragon swooped down and blasted the ground around us with flame.

"Men," Irileth shouted. "Form up. We'll attack this beast from all angles."

Several of the guards began shooting at the dragon with their bows. Jorvin joined suit. I, however, kept my eyes on the dragon as it flew around us with amazing speed.

"You don't have a bow?" Jorvin asked.  
>"Of course not," I replied. Of course I was never any good with archery.<br>"I told you to train with me, idiot," he laughed back at me.

I could tell Jorvin was having fun with this dragon rather than fearing for his life. He was always one to accept challeges head on. I, however, was always one to avoid conflicts. As everyone continued to shoot their arrows, and Irileth blasting away her spark spells, I tried to get the dragon's attention, hoping it would land. No luck.

"Get out of here," Jorvin shouted at me.  
>"I'm not leaving you," I replied.<p>

Jorvin continued launching arrows at the beast. "What do you plan to do then?"

I looked around for a way to get the dragon to come down. That's when I remembered the tower. The roof entrance.

"There," I shouted, pointing in the direction of the tower.

Jorvin looked it over and realized what I was aiming at. He nodded to me, slung his bow over his shoulder and made his way into the tower. All the while, I continued trying to gain the dragon's attention. I was finally in luck. It spotted me and seemed to focus it's attention towards me.

When I saw Jorvin poking his head over the top of the tower, he signaled me to lure the dragon closer.

"Irileth," I shouted. "Bring the men closer to the tower."  
>She looked at the surrounding before shouting back to me, "That's suicide. If we gather near the tower together, it could take us all out in one swoop."<br>"Trust me," I insisted.

She couldn't bring herself to see my reasoning but finally agreed.

"Form up. Follow me."

The group of us made our way closer to the tower and the dragon took the bait. As it flew in closer, it came just low enough it was below the roof of the tower where Jorvin was waiting. As the dragon flew by, Jorvin jumped from the roof and onto the dragon's back with both his blades drawn. After he landed, he made quick work to slice it's wings. This caused the dragon to screech in pain and make a crash landing into the ground.

At first I feared for Jorvin's safety, but I managed to see him jump just before the dragon landed hard into the ground and slid to a stop. The real fight was on.

"Meyus joor," The dragon spoke. "Foolish mortals. I will destroy you and you will all be food in my belly. Krongrah fen kos dii. Victory will be mine."

We approached with swiftness but also with caution. Each of us making our combined and individual attacks. I was able to finally join in the fight with my decisive blocking and striking. This fight was proving to be my most difficult, even with it being eight warriors on one dragon.

"Hi nis kron," the dragon seemed to taunt at us.

As I made my next move, Jorvin ran up from behind the dragon, taking it by surprise.

"Karrick," he shouted, signaling me to strike at the same time.

I took the chance. As the dragon began to turn towards Jorvin, I struck into it's neck. Jorvin dodged it's tail and struck into the body. As it continued to roar in pain, I took the advantage to use my blade as a ledge and climbed up to it's head. Pulling my blade from it's neck, I began striking into it's head. Finally taking one good stab through it's eye, the dragon roared in ultimate pain.

"Vokorasaal. Dovahkiin. Nid!" the dragon shouted before falling to the ground.

The men started to cheer for their victory as Jorvin and myself moved to join them.

Suddenly, Irileth shouted for us to look out. When we looked to the dragon, it began to burn and decompose at a rapid rate. Everyone cleared from the dragon, but I felt something. Something grew inside me. As the dragon continued to burn away, I felt a power rise from it and flow into me. I felt as though my strength had increased.

After this strange phase had passed, one of the guards quickly ran up to me.

"I can't believe it," he said. "You're... Dragonborn."  
>I looked at him in confusion. "I'm what?"<br>"From the very oldest tails, a dragonborn can slay dragons and steal their powers," he continued as the rest gathered around us. "That's what you just did, right? Did you steal the dragon's powers?"

I started to check over myself. I felt the same, just more alive.

"I'm not sure what happened," I said.  
>"Well," Jorvin chimed in. "Something just happened to you. I just saw it with my own eyes."<br>"You must be," said the guard. "That would be the only explanation." He pondered to himself for a moment before continuing. "I've got it. Try to shout. That would prove it."

Jorvin and I both looked at the guard like he was crazy. Shout? That was going to prove it? I just shout out at the top of my voice? That sounded like it would work, surely. I was beginning to think that this guard had a few too many drinks before he came out here.

"What are you talking about?" Another guard stepped in.  
>"That's right," a third said. "My father used to tell me tales of the dragonborn. They could steal their powers and shout just as the dragons do."<p>

None of this was making sense. But I managed to think to myself and focus on what had happened to me. It was then that I felt the dragon's presence within me. And the strange symbols I saw in Bleak Falls Barrow that seemed to burn into my mine. As I focused on this, I could hear a voice within me say, "Fus." I wasn't sure what it meant, but I stepped forward to try it. All the guards stepped out of my way.

I breathed in deep and focused on this word. And with very little effort I released.

"FUS!"

I felt the power burst out from me. Everyone around me jumped back in horror.

"That's it," the first guard shouted. "That's the proof. You really are dragonborn then."

The rest of the guards all stood in amazement and argued among themselves while Jorvin made his way to me.

"What is happening to you, brother?" he asked.  
>I shook my head. "I don't know. But I feel stronger."<br>"This doesn't make any sense," he retorted. "First, you're out here casting spells, and now you're this, so called, dragonborn?" He continued to pace around as though he was growing more angry by the second. "You're not the man I knew before."  
>"Jorvin, it is me," I insisted. "I tried to tell you about mother before all of this."<p>

He continued to pace around as though he wanted to keep fighting something. But nothing prepared me for what happened next.

"Forget the mission in Markarth," he spat. "Jarl Ulfric needs to know about this as soon as possible. If you are _dragonborn_, then we have something more important on our hands."

He started to storm away in the direction of Whiterun. Probably to catch the carriage back to Windhelm.

"Brother," I called to him.

Jorvin stopped for a moment with his back still to me. He looked to the ground for a second before speaking over his shoulder to me.

"My brother died in Helgen."

With those last words, he sprinted back to Whiterun. My heart sank. I couldn't believe the words that just came from his mouth. It was as if I had truly died and nothing was the same.

The guards continued their cheers to me, but, I didn't want to hear them. I started walking back to Whiterun when Irileth caught up to me.

"I'm not sure about this _dragonborn_ business," she said. "But I'm sure glad you're on our side."  
>"Glad I could help," I replied, still slumping in my sadness.<br>"Listen," she continued. "Jarl Balgruuf will need to know about this. Head to Dragonsreach and inform him of what happened here. I'm going to stay back and help clear the bodies for a proper burial."

I waved her off in agreement. I took my time getting back. I couldn't help but think about what had just happened. My own brother, considering me dead to him because I have this strange new magic. I wanted to chase him down, but I knew Jorvin. If I tried to stop him, I would have to fight him.

As I made my way back into the city of Whiterun, the streets were packed by the civilians all watching me and mumbling to themselves. More than likely they had already learned of what happened. Word traveled fast in Skyrim.

I took slow steps up the stairs to Dragonsreach. I didn't want to be here. I wanted to be out there and away from people. I made it half way up the stairs when I noticed a strange thundering sound approaching. I knew it wasn't a storm because it was a clear day. But this thunder was abnormal. Then, without warning, the entire ground shook as though the earth wanted to split open. But in this thundering momentum, I heard voices coming from the sky.

"DO-VAH-KIIN"

To be fair, we all know the tail of the dragonborn. How I, with the help of the greybeards and their leader Paarthurnax, saved the world from Alduin the World-Eater.  
>I made many new friends and allies along my travels and even stood side by side with the heroes of old in Soverngarde. But, during this time, I never forgot Jorvin. Every day it would eat away at me that he refused to return my letters. For a whole year I never knew what became of my brother in the stormcloak ranks. Even when Ulfric Stormcloak himself tried to convince me join his ranks to further his cause.<p>

"You are a true son of Skyrim," he would say. "The dragonborn of legend, fighting along side me to free it's people."

At times I was tempted to join him just to be with Jorvin. But I knew in my heart it was wrong. I knew Ulfric had a point when it came to Skyrim and it's people. And the political views against the Aldmeri Dominion. But, I knew, deep down, Ulfric was only looking out for himself. The rest was just a smokescreen.

As the next year had progressed, I continued my training and study under the greybeards. With Paarthurnax trying to gain the allegiance of the remaining dragons, I kept to myself, in peace, away from the troubles of the world. I would also receive contact from Delphine and Esburn from time to time, hoping I would kill Paarthurnax and help them rebuild the Blades. However, I felt the time of the Blades had passed. I could see the possibility of goodness in the dragons. Some, like Odahviing, had agreed to follow the old one's thu'um. But, there was always that one troubling factor.

Jorvin.

It was getting close to two years since I last seen him at Whiterun. I wanted to know what happened to him. But, unless I agreed to fight for Ulfric, he refused to inform me of my brother's well being. The civil war had torn across Skyrim. The empire and the rebels kept going back and forth in a stalemate. There didn't appear to be any end to it.

Finally, one day, while I was training, a courier had arrived. Exhausted from his climb, the greybeards allowed him to stay and rest. Once he finished catching his breath, he presented two letters to me. Both were addressed from General Tullius of the empire and Ulfric Stormcloak of the rebels.

The time for me to choose, it seemed, was now.


End file.
